Bresha Meadows Will Be Transferred to a Mental Health Facility

It's still a form of detention

Bresha Meadows supporters hoped her latest hearing would yield her release, but instead Bresha will be transferred to a different type of holding facility. The teen accused of killing her father after she and her family say they endured years of abuse at his hands has been ordered out of the juvenile detention facility where she was held and into a mental health treatment facility in Cleveland.

According to Huffington Post reporter Melissa Jeltsen, a judge ordered Bresha into a treatment center for evaluation instead of the juvenile jail where she had stayed for 175 days. Despite the change, Bresha will not be free to come and go from the treatment facility. Bresha's mother, Brandi, told reporters at Bresha's hearing Friday that she herself has been freed, but her daughter is now paying the price.

Brandi said Bresha has been very nervous in jail, throwing up often.

"Jail is not going to help her, she's not going to heal," Brandi told reporters prior to the hearing, according to Melissa.

Cleveland's Fox 8 reports Brandi said Bresha is not getting the necessary help in jail.

“She needs help,” she said. “She is not getting the help she needs being locked up. ”

On Thursday, Bresha's supporters held a #FreeBresha day of action, urging the judge to release her because juvenile detention isn't shown to be effective. In fact, a report from the Justice Policy Institute said incarcerating young people does little to help them in the long run, instead increasing their chances of returning to jail or prison in the future. After her hearing, #FreeBresha released a statement calling for her immediate release form any form of confinement.

"We remain steadfast in our belief that Bresha has a right to self-defense and should not be criminalized or forcibly confined. We call for Bresha’s release from state detention so that she and her family are free to determine the best course for her recovery and well-being," the statement says.

Her support group, #FreeBresha also pointed out another important issue: survivors of domestic abuse being punished.

According to the Women in Prison Project of the Correctional Association of New York, 67% of women accused of killing someone close to them had been abused by that person. Of all the state's inmates in for any charge, 75% had experienced severe physical domestic violence. All too often, survivors of domestic violence are punished for their survival.

"As a 14-year-old child pushed to her limits and fearful that she and her family might end up dead at the hands of her father, she did what she had to do to survive," #FreeBresha said in its statement. "She should not be tried and she most certainly should not continue to be jailed; this is unjust. We call on prosecutors to drop the charges against her and return to her family to begin the long process of healing. Short of this, she should at least be released from all forms of detention while awaiting trial. Bresha is a traumatized child survivor of domestic violence and her trauma has been compounded by her jailing for 175 days and counting."

Bresha's mother called her a hero, saying Bresha acted in defense of herself and her family. Both she and Bresha allege her father was verbally and physically abusive, and both say they were afraid he was going to kill them. Bresha is accused of shooting her father in the head while he slept. Her uncle denies Bresha's father was abusive.

After the hearing, #FreeBresha supporters urged people to continue rallying for her release and raising awareness for the case.